Who doesn't love a surprise of all your favorite baked goods?

I'm hoping Ross loves it... because that was the main portion of my anniversary gift to him (makes sense, since it was cooking that started this whole thing)

Saturday morning for 3 hours my hands worked non-stop to bake 3 of his favorites, all of which I have never made before and was slightly nervous (especially the toffee since that is easily ruined)

However! it all came out well and I really hope he likes it because I enjoyed making all of it

So... first I made everything but the kitchen sink cookies (these were literally bookmarked in my recipe section as "Ross Cookies."

A weekend in Pleasantville...

My weekend in SLO was EXACTLY what I needed. Even though there was some stress and drama just to get there.  I was an hour and a half delayed getting out of La Guardia, however I was being told by the flight attendants that we should make it and they are going to hold the flight in Denver for us. 

Once I get to Denver I RACE to the gate for Santa Barbara and luckily they were still boarding. I get in my seat call everyone and let them know I made it and buckled up. Then the pilot walked out... it was too foggy in SB to land and now LA was too fogged in as well. No flight was landing on the west coast that night... so I get my stuff and walk to the customer service line. 

They rebooked the flight for the next morning at 8 am and gave us hotel vouchers. I go to the embassy suits and realize I haven't eaten that day except some cereal, yogurt and a carrot muffin that morning and I'm STARVING. I call room service... and they are closed for the night. Luckily the hotel had a small "market" with a lot of candy and a couple types of crappy chicken soup. so I bought some soup and popcorn and went back to my room. The good part of it was that it allowed Ross and I to really talk for the first time in a long time completely unrestrained by time or anything. I loved being able to really talk for an hour or so about everything and nothing. 

The next morning I woke up at 5am MT (4am PT 7am ET) and got some food and coffee then collected my stuff and went downstairs to catch the shuttle to the airport. 

I wish I could explain how excited I was... pretty sure everyone on the flight thought I was crazy since I couldn't stop smiling like a fool. 

When I landed in SB Ross and I took the pass back to SLO and stopped at the AG In&Out for burgers and fries. Once we got back to his house it was around noon so we finished eating and took a nap since we were both up late and got up early. 

That afternoon was BEAUTIFUL and warm and sunny and the perfect SLO. we walked to Granada Bistro and had "the Lauren plate" which is goat cheese, nutella, salt, and fruit on crostini bread. Ross had his Spaten optimator beer and I enjoyed Chimay. It was the perfect afternoon

That night I got to catch up with Jude for 20 mins before she and Caren went to go see Axis Dance perform at the Cal Poly PAC. Then the boys and I went to Giuseppe's. 

I really do miss being one of the boys... A meal with Ross, Kiel and Wes will always equal extreme laughing and inappropriate jokes. After dinner we headed to McCarthy's so I could see Vanessa who was working that night and Caren could join us for a drink. It was awesome to catch up with her and hear what's up in her life right now. We were going to go to sheep but we all decided to call it a night instead. 

Sunday morning the 3 boys and I went for brunch before going to Bravo SLO to see Variable Perform. I ordered the stuffed French toast with strawberries... and proceeded to eat the whole thing... then finish Kiel's pumpkin pancakes. 

One by one the seasons change and peanut butter begins

I woke up yesterday morning to Fall. It seems like Mother Nature woke up Saturday morning and realized it was October and needed to cool things off a bit. Walking to the grocery store and back home brought back so many memories of France. In many ways I am living a parallel life to my time in France. However I don't have the luxury of having Laine here as a piece of home to hang out with and comfort each other. 

This week went by SO fast! I can't believe it. I'm excited for the next 2 weeks to pass as quickly so I can be home for a few days soaking up the SLO life. Until then I must really dig in and get a lot of work done. 

Yesterday while looking at kittens up for adoption at the local shelter I happened to look up the band The Acorn to see if they've done anything lately. It seems they have put out a new album and allowed me to fall in love all over again!

Images from the week...

Monday I woke up to fire trucks on my street

I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies

Click on Read More to see my recipe for Peanut Butter muffins with jam centers for an easy to go version of a PB&J.

a river of tears... and a lot of cookies

So this weekend I was pretty sure it was going to be a solitary weekend and quite lonely. Saturday I watched ridiculous sad movies and while I hate to admit it, cried most of the day (let's not bring it up again shall we). Mainly I was sad because I feel very out of place here, I've mentioned this before but it's worse. I am in a totally new, unfamiliar place where people are less than friendly. In our program most of the grad students are either married and/or live in the city. So hanging out is a little tough. Then the few that do live near by and aren't married I see all day every day, 5-6 days a week. Its not that I don't like them. Its quite the opposite! I really like them, so I don't wan them to end up disliking me because I'm usually not in the mood to hangout or be around people after such long days. I also fear that if we do spend too much time together they may end up realizing they don't think I'm cool or interesting or whatever. 

Girls are hard for me, I have a hard time spending massive amounts of time with just girls. I'm much more used to being around boys. Here I don't really have any contact with boys.

I miss hanging out with my nerdy engineer boys talking about helicopters, video games, and the best way to build a projector tv theater at home. I grew up in a neighborhood of all boys, Most of my friends are boys, except the exceptional few females who are the most amazing women ever. 

I also miss Ross and I try really hard not to annoy him or complain or pester him on a daily basis. But I realized he is my only male contact that I have and I miss it. I worry sometimes that I get overly emotional about things and end up annoying him with my texts. But I can't help the way I feel and sometimes I just have to cry myself to sleep if I'm going to sleep at all. (yes saying that makes me feel stupid... oh well).

The other night there were a few songs that seemed to match my mood: